There are various reasons why you would have such a deficiency, including inadequate intake, enzyme deficiencies, mitochondrial impairment, or increased requirements for more carnitine when ketosis is present.

So, if you follow a ketogenic diet, you may be at risk for this deficiency.

Most of the reasons are sparse and uncommon; therefore, you can figure out whether you have it or not from the symptoms.

The tricky thing with this issue is that the symptoms and the age at which you experience these symptoms result from the cause, such as those listed above.

A long list, considering you never know at what age you’ll get one or more of these if indeed you have a carnitine deficiency.

One way to clear yourself of such a disease is by avoiding fasting of any kind and all strenuous exercise. Another is to supplement your diet with more carnitine or eat more carnitine-rich foods.

What Foods Have L-Carnitine in Them?

You’re gonna love this.

The foods that contain a decent amount of L-carnitine are the foods everybody craves and enjoys.

Red meat, beef, pork, fish, and chicken are all excellent sources of L-carnitine; however, if you consume these too often, the amount of L-carnitine you’ll be ingesting will be overkill.

Literally: Your body also creates TMA when L-carnitine is present in the body, which has been linked to plaque buildup in arteries.

That’s why people associate red meat and other processed meats with heart disease and blood clots.

Dairy is another top choice for getting your L-carnitine, but milk and cheese also have their problems with people’s guts. Your gut health plays an important role in the digestion of this amino acid.

For vegetarians and vegans, if they suddenly consume a bunch of foods with high amounts of L-carnitine, their gut biome defends against plaque buildup.

The same cannot be said for omnivores, especially those with a high meat and dairy diet.

So what’s the solution? You want to safely increase your L-carnitine for performance purposes, but you want to steer clear of the nasty side results.

The best things are to treat your gut well. Take a probiotic, choose plant protein sources that remove toxins with their high fiber, and have an alkaline gut environment by eating leafy greens and lemons.

These are especially important if you want to take an L-carnitine supplement.

How Much L-Carnitine Should You Take Daily?

The recommended dose depends on your age, weight, and condition.

The normal range is between 500 and 2,000 mg per day. That’s what is needed for a regular guy or gal doing their day-to-day thing.

How Long Does It Take For L-Carnitine To Work?

Another added benefit is the increase in mental clarity and alertness within the same time frame.

For long-term effects, you can expect to see results within a few weeks. This also depends on where you’re starting at physically.

But if you stick with supplementation, you should see either performance, muscle, or fat changes fairly quickly.

Which is Better: L-Carnitine or Acetyl L-Carnitine?

Two forms of the same amino acid, but they act differently.

L-carnitine’s main function is to aid in converting fat to energy. Acetyl L-carnitine is actually the processed version of L-carnitine that bypasses the blood-brain barrier.

What this does is it gets to the brain faster, allowing the acetyl L-carnitine to energize the brain, give nerve support, and provides a substrate for the synthesis of something called “acetylcholine.”

In summary, L-carnitine burns fat and provides energy for building muscle and improving performance, and acetyl L-carnitine helps with cognitive function and mental alertness.

So, in accordance with your goals, you might be looking for one or the other. You can take both, but take it at different times in the day.

The great thing is that acetyl L-carnitine does everything its regular counterpart does, with the bonus of improved brain function.

To put it simply, you want the acetyl L-carnitine.

Liquid vs. Pills

This is actually a commonly debated competition: Which is better, liquid L-carnitine or L-carnitine pills?

Other than personal preference, the clear winner is liquid. :

Cost: You get more dosages with liquid and it costs a lot less than capsules.

Dosage: Turns out, if you go with the liquid form, it provides the correct amount, or at least the minimum. In pill form, the dosage consists of more pills.

Taste: The liquid L-carnitine tastes good and isn’t a hassle. Would you want to drink a good-tasting liquid or swallow six pills?

The biggest of the three is cost. If you have to take a handful of pills that cost you considerably more than a single dosage of liquid-form L-carnitine, and they’re already spendier to begin with, it isn’t that hard of a decision to make. Plus, it really is more convenient.

The lone liquid L-carnitine on this list, we’re going back to the ever-effective Evlution Nutrition brand.

As the earlier section said, liquid L-carnitine proves to be fairly inexpensive at $15 per bottle with 93 servings.

However, with it being liquid, there are some other ingredients in the mix, including water, sucralose, citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, and acesulfame potassium (those last three are food preservatives and a calorie-free sweetener).

Still, it’s a stimulant-free liquid form of L-carnitine, and Evlution provides optimum carnitine in this product.

With natural berry flavor, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium, the taste should be sweet.

If you aren’t a fan of downing a dose straight, you can always mix it in more water to dumb down the flavor.

If you’re somebody who likes their supplements fast, easy, and tasting great, this supplement is the way to go!

Wrap Up

L-carnitine is an awesome tool to be used within the scope of your workout routine.

Of course, diet and exercise are top dogs for your overall fitness.

Then, at the top of the physique pyramid, you have supplements.

However, if you’re at the point where your performance and physique goals need that little extra boost, L-carnitine is a tremendous supplement.

When an amino acid takes your stored body fat and burns it as clean energy, you can’t go wrong.

Make sure to do your due diligence, research, and find out what L-carnitine supplement is right for you.